In some automotive vehicles the rear seat includes a seat back structure that can be swingably adjusted between an upright position and a prone position. When the seat back is in the upright position the rear seat can be used for human seating purposes, in the usual fashion. When the seat back is in the prone position, the trunk (or cargo) space is in open communication with the rear seating area so that longer cargo items, e.g. skis, toboggans, etc. can be accommodated in the elongated storage space behind the vehicle front seat.
In such vehicles the seat back for the vehicle rear seat is constructed as a relatively light structure so that it can be moved easily between the normal upright position and the prone position. As a result, the seat back panel is susceptible to being damaged or fractured by cargo impaction forces when the seat back is in the upright position. The possibility of seat back panel damage occurs primarily when the vehicle comes to an abrupt stop in the forward direction, e.g. during panic braking or during a front end collision. Heavy cargo items in the trunk can be displaced forwardly so as to forcibly impact the rear seat back panel, thereby possibly fracturing the panel so as to potentially injure a person sitting on the rear seat.
The present invention relates to a low cost, light weight mechanism for reinforcing the panel of a vehicle seat back structure, particularly a panel that is otherwise relatively light and hence subject to buckling or fracture when impacted by moving cargo in the space behind the seat back.